Masked Betrayal
by Oasiso
Summary: Tension was starting to build within Tony and he could feel the unwelcome feeling in his stomach that he got just before he always left his job. What happened to make Tony get that feeling? All will be revealed. A Tony angst story!
1. Realisation

**Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS.**

Tony was coming around the corner to walk in to the bullpen that his team occupied when he heard laughter, he could tell by Abby's distinctive laugh that he knew if he walked over there he would see everyone, including Ducky and Palmer.

Instead of walking over there to join in the fun that his friends were clearly having, he stayed back listening in to what they were laughing about.

"Ah, yes, I would have to agree with you there, Timothy, it was a fun night. I wasn't aware that you had such culinary skills, Ziva." Tony could easily tell that that was Ducky chatting away. But what were they talking about? He couldn't remember going over to Ziva's with the team to eat. Hell, he hadn't ever been to Ziva's.

Tension was starting to build within Tony and he could feel the unwelcome feeling in his stomach that he got just before he always left his previous jobs.

He couldn't get that feeling, not now, not here, he'd finally made a life here, he'd lasted longer than two years, so why the feeling now?

_Because they're doing stuff together and not inviting you, don't you remember Philadelphia?_

Tony pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind and resumed his eavesdropping on his team – well Gibbs' team.

He was so engrossed in listening that it appeared he didn't notice the Director looking over her Agents; she could hear and see her favorite team – run by Gibbs – laughing and talking about the time they all had dinner together at Ziva's place, but what she found so unusual was that Tony wasn't there joining in on the reminiscing. She had a quick look around and saw him, hiding behind the wall to the bullpen, clearly listening in on his friends' conversation. _Why would he be doing that? _she thought to herself as she looked between the two areas.

"You can come over again on Saturday if you wish for another dinner." Ziva invited them all over to her place again.

There was a chorus of acceptance from them all and it still looked as if no-one had noticed that Tony wasn't with them, except for Abby.

She accepted Ziva's invitation and was talking a mile a minute as usual but she was discreetly looking around, obviously looking for someone. But by the end of her searching her shoulders had slumped and she wasn't as happy as before. She hadn't found who she was looking for and Jenny didn't need three guesses to work out whom.

They continued talking about all the things they'd done together over the year, and still Tony just stood there not making his presence known to his friends. Although other Agents from different teams were walking past him and looking at him, wondering what the fun, joking agent was doing standing by the wall by himself. Most of them kept on walking with strange looks on their faces.

When Jenny looked back at Tony she saw him make a move in the direction of his team, she couldn't tear her eyes away, mainly because she knew it was going to end in disaster.

Tony straightened his shoulders and held his head up high, while putting on his carefully mastered mask. He looked exactly like he did before he heard the team talking, no one would know any different.

"Tony, you're here!" Abby squealed, catching the attention of a couple of the Agents who had walked past Tony just before. They also curiously listened in to the conversation.

"Yeah, Abs, I'm here. Though I was just about to meet up with...what was her name? That's right! Mandy; she had the best blonde hair and her..." He was interrupted from his lie by Ziva, not that they were aware it was a lie.

"Yes, Tony, I'm sure we all know what she looks like, after all, all your dates look the same." Ziva commented.

"Huh, Ziva, I'm offended some of them are brunettes." Tony smiled the charm smile; he was getting into the lie.

"Well, I'm off people, have a good weekend." Tony was doing great at keeping his mask on, until he mentioned the weekend. His voice took on an edge to it that he got with people he didn't like, or at the very least, wasn't impressed with. And right now, he certainly wasn't impressed with the people he considered his family. Gibbs, Abby, and Ducky noticed while Ziva and McGee just looked confused.

Luckily though, Tony smiled his charm smile once again and temporarily quashed their worries.

Jenny knew that she would have to talk with them once he had left, but for now she would continue to watch and listen along with the other Agents.

Gibbs looked at Tony carefully trying to work out what was going through his head, but he came up blank; Tony's mask was thicker than it had ever been making it impossible for anyone to read him. That was probably a good thing though, because if anyone could've read his thoughts and emotions at that time, they would have been shocked and worried.

_I have to get out of here, but they're looking at me strangely as if I've grown three heads, especially Ziva and McGee although Gibbs, Abby, and Ducky have their worried looks on, they know that something is wrong. Is their worry real though, was it ever real or was it just an illusion?_

_You know it was real, Tony, don't be stupid._

_What about all those times I've returned to the office, after I've been missing, they had all claimed my belongings and my desk? They never did that with Kate..._

_Yes, but you know they're only joking and it was different with Kate, she was_dead, _Tony._

_How do I know they were joking? It's happened every time, how can that be a joke? And who says I wasn't dead all those times? They never had any proof that I was alive or not and yet they just went on as if I never meant anything to them, what sort of_family _does that?_

_Just forget about it, go home, order pizza and get smashed, come back to work on Monday and make up some lie about Mandy and go on as normal._

_Right. Normal._

Tony mentally pulled himself out of his thoughts before they got any darker, if that was possible. It wouldn't be a good idea for him to go into the depths of his mind in front of Gibbs, Abby and Ducky, they'd read him like a book and then all his secret thoughts would be out and then he'd really have to go. Not that that was sounding like a bad idea.

_Don't go there!_ Tony's subconscious intervened again.

As Tony was having his conversation with himself, Gibbs found that his masked slipped a bit and he was able to read Tony and he didn't like what he saw. Tony's normal bright, sparkling green eyes took on the darkness it got when he was dealing with murderers or criminals. _Why was that side of him coming out in front of them?_ That question was one that lingered with Gibbs' thoughts hours after they'd all left.

Back up with the Director, she, too, was also reading Tony and she had an idea as to what was going through his mind. No one down in the bullpen had yet to notice her presence on the veranda – that she was aware of - which was a good thing as it enabled her to freely observe everyone down there.

Abby looked as if someone had just kicked her puppy; she clearly saw something that troubled her deeply. Ducky was lost in thought but still staring at Tony. Gibbs was gazing intently into Tony's eyes, and his face was tense and rigid; he was also troubled.

Ziva and McGee though had looks of pure confusion on their faces and they were looking at each other periodically then looking back at the others.

She noticed some of the other Agents slowly go back to their work, sheepishly - as if they'd just intruded on a private moment - which they'd had. She was as well, but she didn't care as much as they did, they were her Agents and she was afraid for one in particular's well-being.

"See you later, everyone, I'll see you all on _Monday._" Tony was suddenly speaking again and it wasn't hard to notice the sharp edge in his tone at the end of his sentence.

Everyone seemed to snap out of their trance-like state and looked at Tony once again.

"Have fun, Tony." McGee replied good-naturedly as it seemed that no-one else was willing – or unable – to say anything

"Yeah, you too, McGee." came the soft reply from Tony.

Tony turned around and started to walk towards the elevator, with the eyes of just about everyone in the bullpen on him. It was as if he was leaving for the last time and Director Shepard hurriedly made her way down the stairs, trying to get to him before he made it to the elevator.

She got some curious looks from her Agents but they didn't stop her or say anything. Except for Gibbs, naturally.

"Jen?" that one word was enough to make her skin boil, she was running full pelt after one of her best Agents to put out the fires in his head that eavesdropping on Gibbs' teams conversation had started and here Gibbs was wondering what the hell _she_ was doing. _God,_couldn't he _see._

The only thing she did was turn her head and directed a very deadly stare in not only his direction, but his whole team's direction, including Abby, Ducky and Palmer. In return, she got five confused stares. Abby just looked at her with sad eyes and resignation.

Jenny kept on running but slowed when she heard the person she was chasing turn around and talk.

"I hope you have a nice meal on Saturday guys, who knew Ziva could cook, huh? I certainly didn't, but then I suppose I wouldn't, seeing as I've never had anything that she's cooked, right? You don't need to bother stopping me Director Shepard, I'll be here on Monday, bright and early." There was a pause for five whole agonising seconds as Tony looked at each of member of the team – his supposed family – and then back at the Director.

"Maybe."

"Tony..." Abby started but one look from him made her think otherwise about speaking.

"It's funny, isn't it? Gibbs is supposed to be some talented, heroic ex-marine who can detect anything and Ziva's a ninja-like assassin, but neither of you noticed the Director listening in or me for that matter.

"Before hanging dirty laundry out to dry, maybe you should check to see who's around." Tony quietly but vehemently spoke to the team in front of him.

The expressions on each of their faces were mixed, but one emotion was unanimous among them, _guilt._

The other Agents looked at Tony with pity and Gibbs' team with anger.

How could his own team betray him like that? After all he'd done for them.

Tony let his mask slip just before he turned to walk into the waiting elevator – where another agent had been holding the door open – and what they saw could come close to heartbreaking.

His eyes were emanating a cold, dead feeling but if you looked just under the surface you could see right inside him, to the unmasked anger and hurt directed only at Gibbs' team.

Abby continued to look as if someone kicked her puppy, or perhaps more than one by now, when she looked at Tony without his mask.

Tony walked into the elevator, pressed the button for the car park and left them with his final parting words.

"We're a team, right Boss?" his tone was mocking, but they couldn't tell if he was mocking himself or Gibbs.

The elevator doors closed and chaos broke out in the bullpen.


	2. Secrets Uncovered

**Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS**

The most dominant voices that were heard over all the yelling were Abby's and Director Shepard's.

"I told you he would find out. Why didn't you just invite him? Now he's gone, _gone!_" Abby yelled and cried at the same time.

McGee and Gibbs went to comfort her, but she just glared at them and moved away.

"You had dinner, as a team, might I add – and didn't invite one of the members who has been by all of your sides at different times helping you? Then you had the gall to talk about it at work when you _all_ knew that the one person you _didn't_ invite could walk around the corner at any given moment."

Director Shepard didn't yell, but she spoke quietly with anger laced in her tone – maybe that was why everyone shut up instantly when she spoke. Never had anyone heard her speak like that before – including Gibbs.

"I," Ziva went to speak, but got cut off by the Director.

"No. Gibbs, Ducky, and Abby, you all know to some extent what Tony went through when he was a kid and what he was like before he came here. Ziva, you probably also know something from your contacts, and McGee you've no doubt done some investigating of your own and found something out and yet _none_ of you decided to step forward and invite Tony. Why?"

There was silence as everyone took in what she said and waited for someone to answer her.

"Well?" she once again demanded an answer.

"After some _talking,_it was decided that Ziva wouldn't invite Tony." Ducky bravely spoke up.

The looks on the bystanders and Jen's face were ones of pure shock.

Ziva quickly jumped in, "He was in a bad mood and we didn't want to have to face it anymore." she elaborated further. Not that it did much good.

You could hear Director Sheppard breathe in sharply, "He was in a bad mood? Abby how long have you known Tony?" she asked abruptly.

"Uh, two-and-half years, almost three." Abby supplied.

"Right and in that time how many times has Tony been in a _bad mood_?" she didn't direct this question at anyone particular.

"I don't know...too many to count." Abby answered.

"Ziva said he was in a bad mood, was it one or was it a sulk?" she ignored Abby's answer and came out with a seemingly random question.

There was silence as Gibbs team thought about it.

"Bad mood." McGee answered.

"Right, so I ask again, how many times has Tony been in a_bad mood_ since he got here?" Director Shepard cast her gaze on each and every one of the team, but none of them answered her, either because they didn't know the answer, or because they weren't quite sure if it was safe to answer.

"Once. After Agent Todd was, uh, killed." Another agent answered for them.

''Thank you. Is that right?" she queried.

At a single nod from Gibbs, she continued.

''So, Tony was in a bad mood, one that he'd only ever been in _once_ before while at NCIS and instead of asking him what was wrong or even inviting him to a _team_ dinner, so he could forget for a while what was troubling him, you _all_ instead chose to not invite him because you'd had enough of his mood. Correct me if I'm wrong."

There was the dreaded silence again as she picked her way through her thoughts figuring out what to say next.

She sighed, "When was this dinner?"

"September 20th." Gibbs finally found his voice, though perhaps a tad too little too late in the Director's opinion.

"September 20, that's familiar, what..." Jenny was muttering under her breath about the date, clearly trying to dredge up something from her memory.

"His father came to see him." she stated and waited for the impact.

Abby and Ducky gasped simultaneously, as they turned to look at Gibbs whose only reaction was the hardening of his gaze in his steel blue eyes.

"Oh God..." Abby gasped.

"Oh, Anthony, my dear boy." Ducky muttered.

"He came to see me to ask for the day off because he knew you'd say no, Gibbs. I asked him why and it all came rushing out and afterwards he withdrew his request saying he'd go at lunch to see his father." Director Shepard explained to the stunned team.

"But not only did you have a _team dinner_, you went and did _team activities, outings_ and _didn't invite Tony_? Did he have a _bad mood then too_?" she growled out at her subordinates.

Ducky made a noise and seemed to shrink back along with McGee and Palmer.

Abby was starting to get hysterical once again, Gibbs stood stone-faced blocking out any emotions, and Ziva stood away from the team with her head hung down in shame.

Someone cleared their throat, preparing to talk, but it wasn't one of Gibbs' team.

"You know, if you guys don't want Tony on the team any more, we'd gladly have him, right guys?" A fellow team leader spoke what was on his mind.

"Hear Hear." another team leader spoke up.

"I'm with you there, Bob." and yet another team leader voiced his opinion.

''We'll have to see if he actually comes back before you go calling dibs on him." the Director warned.

"I better see Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo on Monday morning. He's a fine agent and man, I'd hate to lose him to the FBI, or any other alphabet soup agency." Jenny spoke those words at Gibbs.

But she wasn't finished, "I'm glad you had a nice evening while your friend and team mate was probably trying to drown his sorrows and memories in beer. Have a nice dinner tomorrow and on future _team bonding_ outings." Director Sheppard gave them those parting words and stalked back to her office.

The bullpen was in another trance until an agent spoke up, "How could you not invite Tony on team outings? He would have loved those."

"Yeah, he would have, if it was 'cause he was on a _date_, then you really don't know Tony." another agent piped up.

McGee, Ziva, and Palmer all had looks of shock and confusion on their faces.

An agent laughed, "You didn't know that Tony doesn't actually go on as many dates as he says? He plays footy sometimes with us, or goes out by himself and does some activity."

"But, he's always eating junk food and doesn't like to do exercise and he always comes back on Monday with a story about his latest conquest!" Ziva protested hotly.

"He eats junk food, yes, but he exercises so much outside of work that he can eat it. He's one of the most active guys I've seen in the agency. And like you said, he comes back with _stories_ of his conquests." the agent shot back at her.

"So, let me see if I understand you correctly. You're saying that Tony isn't a...um, oh, what is it?" Ziva started but stopped when she couldn't think of the word to describe Tony.

"Player?" McGee supplied.

"Ah, yes, a player. You are saying that he isn't a player, and that he exercises regularly and that the Tony we know isn't the real Tony?" Ziva skeptically asked the other agents before her.

"Yep, like the bosses said, we'll all be happy to have Tony on our teams if you don't want him on yours anymore." a brave – or maybe stupid – agent brought up the team situation again, causing Abby to growl unnaturally under her breath and for Ziva to tense, ready for battle.

"Uh no, that won't be happening." McGee spoke up quickly, afraid of what Ziva – and Abby – might do to the young Agent.

"Alright, but just remember the offer still stands." he smiled.

While all this was happening, Gibbs had managed to slip away to get some coffee and a Caff-pow for Abby and his team. He walked back into the bullpen just at the tail end of the conversation and was seeing red by the time he was in eyesight of just about everyone. He didn't fail to notice that Abby and Ziva were also angry and weren't pouncing on the agent out of pure will power. Although Ziva did look like she was about to pounce...

..."Enough!" he growled out.

Ziva moved back and breathed in and out to steady herself, so she wouldn't turn around and put the guy flat on his back, even if he did deserve it. Abby also managed to get her anger under control, with some help from McGee.

"We stuffed up, yes, but never was it an invitation for you to start giving my people a hard time. In case you have forgotten, Abby here is the forensic specialist, she does the lab work required to make or break a case, don't forget that. Now, we're going to leave." Gibbs did his best glare yet at the agents and then walked towards the elevator, confident that his team plus Ducky, Palmer and the still slightly seething Abby were following close behind.

The elevator doors shut, and this time chaos didn't break out in the bullpen, but there was silence until a voice – a lot like Director Shepard's – spoke, "You can all leave in 10 minutes."

Back in the elevator, there was a tense silence as they were all in their own thoughts, trying to work out how they were going to get Tony back and get him to forgive them.

"What are we going to do?" Abby's voice was small and dejected.

"I dunno, Abs, but we'll figure it out. But first we're going to have to find him." Gibbs, their esteemed leader, couldn't reassure Abby and the rest that all would work out fine.

"Abby, I know you don't want to, but can you go to your lab and try and put a trace on his cell phone? He's probably turned it off already anticipating what we're going to do, but we're not going to leave any stone unturned until we find him." Gibbs started handing out tasks for everyone to do.

"McGee, you're with Abby, help her with the trace and whatever else you can think of. Ducky and Palmer, can you go over to his apartment and see if he's there? If he isn't, ask his neighbours, find out if he's been home tonight. Ziva, we're going to search his haunts, including sporting places he might have gone to." Gibbs finished setting tasks just as the elevator doors opened and everyone went to their respective cars to go look for Tony, or in McGee and Abby's case, they retreated back to her lab.

Up in Director Sheppard's office, she looked down to the ground from her office window and saw the majority of Team Gibbs all rushing towards their cars. _They'll find him, it's just a question of when and what his reaction to them will be. They have a long road ahead._


	3. Phone calls and accidents

Tony walked silently to his car trying not to draw attention to himself. That would be all he'd need, an Agent asking him if he was alright and him turning into a blubbering mess.

Knowing his luck that could still happen in the 20 metres he still had to walk to his beloved car, he subtly sped up his pace.  
_Where am I going to go? Director Shepard will have spoken to them by now which means they're going to be trying to call me and Gibbs will most likely pay my apartment a visit._Tony sighed and walked the last few steps to his car wondering when everything started to go so pear shaped. _At least one thing's still normal_, he thought wryly, _my hunger, I'm__starved._ Tony drove out of the NCIS parking lot in a hurry, but not before noticing a couple of Agents who he knew worked on a different level to him giving him sympathetic looks. _Great, it's already made its way around the building. Maybe, it is time to move on._

With that frightening thought, Tony shook his head and decided on getting some food at his favourite restaurant to quench his hunger, and hopefully improve his foul mood.

"Tony!" An elderly well-built woman cried out.

"I was starting to wonder when you would be back. It's been too long, my boy." The woman engulfed Tony in a hug and reprimanded him softly for not coming by more often.

"I'm sorry. Work's been kind of busy lately." Tony apologised and made himself comfortable at a secluded table of two in the back corner of the restaurant.  
Conveniently, he could see everyone in the restaurant and anyone who would come in. This didn't go unnoticed by the observant lady.

"Mm...I'll forgive you just this once, as long as you tell me what has you so troubled. And don't go telling me you're 'fine' or 'it's work', because we both know I'm not that stupid." The lady stared at him until Tony finally sheepishly smiled.

"That easy to read, huh?"

"Not normally. You've got that mask of yours off."

"Just some family problems, Mia. I'll be as good as new once I've had some of your spaghetti." This time Tony gave his patented charm smile which Mia couldn't help but return. It was the infectious!  
"Okay, you're not going to tell me anything else, I get it. I'll go back and make you some of my spaghetti." Mia smiled sadly and left Tony to his thoughts and observations of those around him. His gaze kept wandering back to the family that was seated diagonally from him. Anyone could tell by looking and listening to them that they were all very close. They joked and laughed together; Tony could hear one of the girls teasing a guy seated next to her and wondered if that's how it was at Ziva's 'team' dinner.

He was interrupted from his thoughts by one of Mia's waiter's handing him the delicious smelling spaghetti.

"Thanks, and can you please tell Mia, next Tuesday. She'll know what I mean." The waiter nodded at Tony and walked off to presumably tell Mia and continue with his job.

Half an hour later, Tony had finished at the restaurant and was back in his car driving with no real aim. He spent most of his time singing along with the radio, staying as far away from NCIS and his apartment, and watching strangers, trying to guess what secrets they were holding back from loved ones. It was better than torturing himself trying to figure out what he did wrong, if he did anything wrong.

He checked his phone as he was leaving the restaurant and found out that he'd already gotten in less than two hours, ten missed calls and sixteen text messages. Three phone calls and eight texts were from Abby – she managed to sound guilty, sad, angry and hysterical in all of them – one short and to the point phone call from Gibbs. Ziva, Ducky, and McGee all phoned him once as well. Ziva and McGee left a particularly nice one telling him to stop sulking and that Gibbs was unbearable so he'd better come back soon. The last two were from the Director. He got a text each from Ziva, Palmer, and Ducky; two from the Director, and three from McGee. Tony listened to them all once, a second time, and then deleted them without a second thought.

Tony came up to a red traffic light and stopped. It was surprisingly the first red light he'd gotten since he started driving around aimlessly, and with it came all the thoughts that he'd been repressing since he'd left NCIS headquarters. His mind couldn't hold on to any one thought or emotion for very long. By the time the light changed to green, he'd experienced hundreds of different emotions, the most prominent being betrayal. It kept on popping up and niggling away at him.  
He was still concentrating on trying to get the thoughts and emotions of betrayal out of his head when he started moving again. Consequently, he didn't see the car that had ran through the red light and was barrelling towards him until it was too late to do anything. It hit Tony's car at an alarmingly speed and impacted on Tony's side. His car spun out of control and flipped over twice before landing upright. Tony was conscious for a few agonising seconds and could feel the pain pulsing through his body like his blood does every second of that day.

Bystanders rushed to the scene and tried to help Tony, but realised it was no use, he was stuck, unconscious in the car until the fire brigade could remove him safely from the car. A man who had witnessed the crash walked up to where the other witnesses were congregated; so he could hear and see what was happening. He looked inside Tony's mangled car and recoiled in shock; he recognised Tony.

Tony had helped him out one day when he was in desperate need of help and the man had never forgotten it. He vaguely remembered Tony mentioning something about how he was a fed for some some agency that was like CSI, only dyslexic, according to Tony. Briefly searching his memory for the name of the agency, the man recalled how the injured man in the car was constantly quoting movies and smiled sadly at the turn of events. He realised that he could repay Tony by making sure his family was notified of the crash.  
He saw the local police off to the side and made his way over to them, hoping they would know how to contact NCIS.

"Excuse me?"

"Yes, how can I help you?" A kind looking man responded.

"I...I uh know the man in the black car, the mangled one. Well, I don't really 'know' him, I just met him once and he told me he worked for NCIS, I think it was." the anonymous voice informed the officer, while sending worried glances towards Tony's lifeless body.

The fire brigade had arrived while he was talking to the officer and they were working quickly and efficiently to free Tony of the car; so far they hadn't had any problems.

The man was drawn back to the officer when he sighed and made a worried face before slipping on a mask and he briefly wondered if it was standard issue for all police officers.

"NCIS? He didn't happen to mention who his boss was, did he?"

"Uh, yeah, I think he did," there was silence as the man tried to recall the name that was eluding him, "Gibbs, yeah, that's right. He said his boss's name was Gibbs." he smiled triumphantly for remembering, but it soon slid off his face when he saw the officer's face. He didn't look happy.

"I really don't want to be the one to tell him one of his Agents' was in an accident." the officer muttered to himself before saying a quick thanks to the man and walking off, while talking into his radio.

"Okay, thank you, Officer. I'll tell him for you." Director Shepard hung up the phone with tears in her eyes and got up from her desk and made her way down to Special Agent Gibbs' area. She really didn't want to have to tell him what she was going to, but someone had to be the bearer of bad news. As she was the boss, it fell on her shoulders.

Some days she really hated being the Director of NCIS, today was one of them.

As she made her way down the stairs, she noticed that Team Gibbs, plus Ducky, Palmer, Abby were all in the bullpen, even if she hadn't just got that phone call, she'd know that they hadn't had any luck in finding or contacting Tony just from their defeated expressions.

Ziva was the one to notice her first and tensed up ready for a battle, which alerted the rest of the close-knit group of her presence, plus some of the surrounding Agents still working there.

"Director?" Gibbs spoke up on behalf of the team.

"I just had a rather unpleasant phone call from the Local PD. A car ran a red light and hit another car," she was interrupted before she could finish.

"What's that got to do with us?" Gibbs snapped.

"If you would let me finish, Agent Gibbs, you would know that it has everything to do with all of you. Now, as I was saying a car was hit, fortunately for the driver and for us, a witness to the crash recognised the driver and informed the local officers who were on the scene.

The driver was taken to Bethesda with serious injuries including: internal bleeding, head trauma and possible spinal damage. The reason why you couldn't get in contact with Tony was because he was identified as the driver of the car that was hit."


	4. Long road ahead

Abby screamed. Although, some might say it was more like a strangled sob.

Then she turned her dark, cold, accusing eyes on to the rest of the team, ready to tell them _again_ that she was right. They should have invited Tony. But she didn't get to.

Gibbs took one look at the Director and realised that Tony's condition wasn't good. For a split second, his face revealed his hidden anxiety that the man he considered like a son might not make it; before his mask was slipped back on and he stormed to the elevator.

The rest of the team were following close behind him, although it could have been debated that Abby was in front of Gibbs by the time they got to the elevator.

Director Shepard looked on as they rushed to go see their injured friend – yes, friend. Even though she knew deep down before, it was clearer now that if Tony wasn't to come back to NCIS, Gibbs' team would be devastated and would never recover. As Director of NCIS she didn't want that to happen as they were the best team in the Agency, but as Jenny Shepard she didn't want to see the small group of people she considered friends break before her eyes.

The elevator doors 'dinged' and another Agent came out of it, spurring her to stop thinking of the worst and go back to work.

Gibbs and the team arrived at the hospital 10 minutes later – 15 minutes cut off the expected arrival time. Gibbs lead the way to the receptionist with a very determined look on his face, while the others struggled to keep up with his increasingly fast pace. Abby, however, was matching his pace the whole way.

The nurse at the desk looked up at the close-knit group and raised her eyebrow inquiringly.

"We're friends, or more like family, of Tony, he was in a car accident, and he just has to make it 'cause I don't know what I'll do if he doesn't. He just has to make it." Abby rambled on to the nurse who developed a sympathetic look on her face while listening to Abby.

"What Abigail is trying to say is, Nurse, is that our friend, Anthony DiNozzo, was brought in a little while ago from a car accident. We'd like to get an update on his condition, please." Ducky smiled charmingly at the nurse and explained what Abby couldn't.

"Of course, let me just check."

The nurse typed in something on the computer, most likely Tony's name, and then walked off down the corridor before arriving at a plain white door with a small window close to the top and walking in it. Palmer noticed off-handedly that it was a swinging door.

The team stood in the reception area of the emergency room and waited impatiently for the nurse to arrive with, hopefully, good news on Tony's condition. Unfortunately, when she arrived back less than five minutes later, her face told them all they needed to know, but her words only confirmed their suspicions.

"I just spoke to Dr. Greenfield very briefly. He said that he will come out and speak to Mr. DiNozzo's next of kin as soon as he can, but informed me that he's currently in a very serious condition. The impact of the crash has caused severe internal bleeding which they're going to operate on as soon as possible. Along with the internal bleeding, he has also received a very serious head injury and many minor lacerations. What is most troubling though, is the possibility of spinal damage. Unfortunately, that's all I can tell you at this time. The Doctor will have more information when he comes to speak to you."

After a moment of silence as the team digested what they had been told, Ducky spoke up, "Thank you, Nurse. Come on, folks, might as well go and sit down on the chairs. It looks like it's going to be a long night."

"He's going to be all right, isn't he, Ducky? I mean, it's Tony we're talking about. He always gets injured and he's always all right. He'll be okay, right? And spinal damage! That will kill Tony! Okay, so kill probably wasn't the best word to use, but still. What if he's paralysed? Then what?" Abby rambled on as she sat down on the uncomfortable hospital chair, clearly worried for her friend.

"I'm afraid I can't speculate on Anthony's condition, my dear. But as you said, it's Anthony, he comes back from all of his injuries fighting fit. I'm sure this time won't be any different. In the meantime, why don't we wait for the doctor to speak to us before fretting too much?" Ducky tried to comfort Abby, but didn't particularly succeed at it.

They were beyond comforting.

Half an hour later, a man carrying a folder, not unlike the folders they used at NCIS, walked through the swinging doors that the nurse went through not too long before. As he got nearer to the group spread out amongst the chairs, he tried to work out who might be the next of kin for the poor kid who had rolled through his emergency room. After not finding anyone who had any similarities with the man, he stopped in front of the group and cleared his throat before speaking.

"Hello, I'm Doctor Greenfield, Mr. DiNozzo's -" The doctor was interrupted half-way through his speech, by a young woman who was dressed quite like his young niece; in black.

"Tony."

"Pardon?" The doctor queried.

Abby replied, sadly, "He likes to be called Tony."

"Of course. Well, I'm Tony's doctor and I can see that you're all worried about him, but unfortunately, I can only give information regarding his condition to his next of kin. It says here in his file that a Mr. Gibbs is his next of kin. Would any of you be him or know him?"

As Dr. Greenfield spoke, Gibbs rose.

"That would be me."

"Ah, well, Mr. Gibbs, if you'd like to come with me, I can fill you in on Tony's condition."

"No, whatever you have to say, you can say it in front of everyone. We're family. And it's Agent Gibbs."

"Right, of course, Agent Gibbs. About ten minutes ago, Tony was taken up to surgery to try and get the internal bleeding under control. About three of his ribs were broken, and two more were severely bruised. He has lacerations on his torso and upper arms from the shrapnel of the crash and glass cutting him. None of the lacerations are very serious and were seen to before he went up to surgery. He's also suffering from head trauma, including a concussion. We'll be monitoring it for the next few days to ensure that everything is fine. The head trauma is not as serious as we first thought, which is something to be thankful for." Dr. Greenfield paused to take a breath and take in the looks of each of the people in front of him. They were obviously listening intently to his prognosis of their friend.

The doctor sighed and prepared to give them the bad news, "Unfortunately, his spinal cord from T6 – T10 has quite extensive swelling. We won't be able to determine what sort of injuries, if any, have been sustained to the vertebrae until the swelling goes down. Now, it could just be that there's some swelling and once it goes down, Tony could regain full function. However, the swelling could also be an indication of a more serious, underlying injury. If there is an injury to his vertebrae, he will almost certainly be paralysed. If this is the case, he would still have full function of his upper body, but nothing below his abdomen, I'm afraid."

As he expected, the faces of the people in front of him noticeably crumpled when he mentioned the possibility of paraplegia. He never liked this part of his job.

"When will we know for certain whether there is an injury to his spinal cord?" Gibbs asked.

"Well, it all depends on how fast the swelling goes down. It could be days or weeks, months even. I'm sorry."

Ducky spoke up next, wondering when they could see Tony, "Do you have any idea of when Tony will be allowed visitors?"

"No, I don't, sorry. I can have a nurse come and inform you when he can have visitors. It's likely he will only be allowed one visitor at a time, though."  
"Yes, that's fine. Agent Gibbs will see him when he's allowed visitors." At this, the doctor looked curiously at the group, wondering why the other members would be so willingly to let Agent Gibbs see their friend before them.

Abby noticed the look on his face and supplied him with the answer, "Gibbs is the Papa Bear, he'll want to see for himself how Tony is. And he's the one most likely to be able to calm Tony down when he wakes up."

The doctor nodded his understanding, "Another doctor will come out and update you of his condition once he's finished in surgery. And for what it's worth, from the small amount of time I spent tending to Tony, he seems like a strong and stubborn man. I'm sure those traits will help him in his recovery." With those parting words, the doctor took his leave and headed back down the corridor and through the swinging door.

Abby was the first to speak up after the doctor left, "What did we do? He probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for us. You heard the doctor, he could be paralysed! He'll never be able to play football again, or basketball. Oh my God, he won't be able to be an NCIS Agent anymore. They won't let him return if he's in a wheelchair. What have we done, Gibbs?"

"First off, Abs, we can't blame ourselves for what happened. We couldn't have known that the driver was going to run a red light."

"Yes, but he wouldn't have been out there if it wasn't for us!" Abby sobbed.

"Perhaps, but we can't know that the crash wouldn't have happened if he was just going home. We just don't know, Abs. And right now, Tony needs us to be there for him; he doesn't need us blaming ourselves for what's happened."

The others nodded in understanding and there was silence for a moment as everyone took in what the doctor and Gibbs had said. It was going to be a potentially long road for them and Tony, but they had to be there for him, no matter what.

McGee broke the silence first, ''Wh-what if he doesn't… want to see us?"

"He's not going to have a choice in the matter. One of us is always going to be at his bedside, if at all possible, for the duration of his hospital stay. I'm sure the other agents will also come by and see him as well." Gibbs was adamant that Tony knew that the team cared for him.

Ducky looked at everyone in the group, ensuring that they were all listening to what he was about to say, "Yes, Jethro is quite right. Anthony is going to need us, whether he wants us or not. Having said that, though, we're also going to have to resolve the issue that saw to Anthony leaving the building earlier in quite a state. Remaining unresolved, it will most likely build-up to the point of us losing him."

Abby sniffled and nodded, before slumping back in her chair and curling up in to Gibbs, who had sat back down some minutes earlier.

The rest of the team were identical to Abby, apart from the curling up into Gibbs bit. They were all slumped back in their seats, worried for their friend and thinking about the tough road ahead.


	5. Perspective

**AN: Wow, okay. This is slightly different to the first 3 chapters, and is probably closer to the 4th chapter. Reading over my first couple of chapters, I realised a) my writing style has changed somewhat since then, and b) I don't like it. xD Ah well, I'll keep them as is, but I did go through and change a few things here and there, but nothing that has changed the story or the direction of it. **

**Also, sorry for the long wait. I hope to get some more chapters up in the near future, but knowing me, don't get your hopes up high. On with the story! I do hope you enjoy it, especially after having to wait so long for it. **

**All mistakes are my own. **

Doctor Sampson wearily pulled his surgical cap that had drawings from his grandchildren on it, off his slightly sweaty head, and rubbed a tired hand over his face. He was a seasoned surgeon, had been operating on the young, the elderly, the too-far-gone, and those he knew he could still save for many years. Too long to really remember, but there were always those who somehow managed to remain with you years down the track, even though there may not have been anything truly significant about their case, or themselves, but they stuck with you anyway. Or, of course, there were those who remained with you because of who they were, or due to their injuries, or the reason why they were on his operating table.

The young man he had just spent the past few hours operating on would be one of those who remained with him. Sighing to himself, he looked back at the operating theatre where the nurses were cleaning the area up of the soiled garments, swabs, and operating utensils; ready for the next surgery.

Slowly making his way down the corridors of the hospitals and heading towards the waiting area, the doctor wondered whether or not the man he just operated on had any family. He liked to think he did. In the brief moments of consciousness for the injured man, the doctor was taken aback by the startling green eyes that held such hurt and sorrow. Somehow, he didn't think it was related to his extensive injuries at all.

Shaking his head to dispel the thoughts he was having, Dr Sampson pushed his way through the revolving doors, the same ones Palmer had noticed earlier in the day, and looked around the desolate-looking waiting area. Whenever he made trips there, he always thought it need to be fixed up a bit, so it wasn't so depressing. The walls were a creamy colour, with nothing else on them, and the visitors were forced to wait on chairs that were designed to look comfy, but in reality probably weren't. There was a small potted plant directly opposite anyone who walked through the staff door, which looked like it could use some serious TLC. Not exactly ideal, given its location.

Currently sitting on the red, hard-looking lounges were a mixture of people. There were two gentlemen sitting next to each other in the far corner, one a young, innocent-looking man, and another older gentleman who looked as if he'd seen all sorts, who wore green scrubs underneath their jackets. Further along from them was a slightly chubby looking guy who was well-dressed, but looked exhausted and on edge. He had his hand being crushed by a very interesting young woman. She was dressed in interesting attire that one would label as "Goth", but he wasn't so sure he would label her as that on quick inspection. She clearly had tear tracks running down her face from frequent bouts of crying, and was huddled in as close as she could get to a grey-haired man.

The grey-haired man with piercing blue eyes were obviously the leader of the group, assuming they were all together. At a quick glance, he reckoned he was assuming correctly.

The man was sitting upright in his chair, with one arm wrapped around the young man nestled in against him, and was staring directly at him, as if he could force him to say what he needed to hear through shear will-power. He supposed that actually worked at times. It certainly was intimidating and slightly unnerving, if he was being honest.

The last person in the room was an ethnic-looking woman, perhaps middle-eastern, judging by her features. Her long brown hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail, and her lips were drawn into a thin line. Otherwise, there was no movement coming from her direction.

Stepping further in to the room, Dr Sampson took a deep breath, before he looked at the group once more, ready to deliver the news they had been waiting for. "I would say good evening, but given where we are, I don't think that's entirely appropriate. I'm Dr Sampson, and I'm assuming you're all family and friends of a," he took a moment to look down at his notes briefly, to ensure he had the correct name on his lips and continued, "Tony DiNozzo, if what Dr Greenfield mentioned is accurate, which it looks as if it is."

Waiting for confirmation that the small group in front of him were indeed the family of his patient, Dr Sampson continued after a single, curt nod from the grey-haired man he now guessed was Agent Gibbs. "Well, firstly, I can tell you that Tony is currently critical but stable up in recovery, and probably will remain that way for a few days to come. We managed to control the internal bleeding and removed the shrapnel from his upper arms and torso from the crash. We'll be keeping a close eye on him over the next few days to make sure that he doesn't develop more internal bleeding. We're confident that won't be a problem, though."

Taking a moment to look at each person in the room, he swallowed before pushing onwards to deliver the news they were most anxious to hear, "Now, it's only been a few hours since the accident, so I can't give much insight in to the extent of injury to his spinal cord. We have got him on corticosteroids though to help reduce the amount of swelling there is. The recovery team and spinal injury experts are also currently setting him up in bed while he's still out from the anaesthetic so that he won't be able to move when he does regain consciousness. I will warn you now that it might be a shock to see, and it will most certainly be a shock to Tony himself. I suggest someone remains with him throughout the night after one of the nurse's informs you that he's able to have visitors, just so that there is a familiar face when he wakes up." Dr Sampson paused to let them process the information they were given, and smiled reassuringly at the group who were looking increasingly tense. "I've sorted it out with the staff where he'll be after recovery, so it shouldn't be a problem. You could probably also wrangle a cot and some blankets if you smiled nicely at the nurses."

To his surprised, the distraught young woman managed a weak smile and a soft giggle, which admittedly startled him, "Tony could smile and charm the nurses in to getting a bed, blankets, and pillows… the works." As she finished, her smile faded to one that was full of sorrow.

The grey-haired man turned his head towards the elderly gentleman in the scrubs and tilted his head towards the Dr, "Duck?"

Turning his head towards the leader, the man dubbed "Duck" looked at him, and it was if a silent conversation was undertaken before "Duck" turned back towards the Dr and spoke in a soft, Scottish lilt, "I know it's early days yet for young Anthony, but will he be undergoing any tests to determine if there is damage to his spinal cord or vertebrae, or will it be a waiting game for the swelling to reduce?"

"Ah, yes. Once Tony regains consciousness, he will go down for an MRI and possibly undergo SSEP, or somatosensory evoked potential testing, to determine if nerve signals can pass through the spinal cord. But, hopefully the MRI will be able to tell us if there is any damage, and with luck, it will only be swelling."

Finishing up, Dr Sampson waiting a moment to see if anyone else had any questions for him, but after seeing that they were all silent, he began wrapping it up, "Alright, if that's all, I'll head back out now. A nurse will be down later to take one of you to see him. I do hope all turns out for the young man. Good luck"

"Thank you, Doctor." Duck responded politely with a brief smile.

Nodding in response, Dr Sampson took one last look at the sad-looking group and hoped to God that they would pull through. They were certainly an interesting group, and he knew the young man who was on his operating table would need all the support he could get.

Turning around and walking out the door he came in from, he left to the young "Goth" lady's renewed sobbing, and the grey-haired man quietly soothing her, as the man known as Duck rambled on about how their situation reminded him of something he'd experienced years prior.


End file.
